Following BCP (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole) Council’s declaration of a climate and ecology emergency in 2019, the decision was made to review the management of some green spaces across the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole areas. With a subsequent reduction in the cutting of some verges and open land, a Trilo S20 with its large 20m3 hopper capacity was brought in to increase productivity as the cut and collect operation expanded – taking not just large quantities of meadow grass in its stride but also assisting with leaf clearance during the winter months.
The versatile Trilo S20 was purchased in May 2022 by Simon Woodall, Team Operations Manager for BCP Council and spearhead of a 30-strong team responsible for looking after all aspects of parks and housing grounds maintenance and landscape construction. “Our ecology programme included creating more grass meadows by leaving areas uncut to improve carbon sequestration and increase our biodiversity to support pollinators. We also reduced cutting on other green spaces such as verges to give plants a chance to flower, providing a valuable source of nectar and adding interest and colour to amenity areas” he explains.
“With this change to our cutting operation, we needed a machine that could handle large-scale cut and collect and found the Trilo was a perfect addition to our existing fleet of mountable cut and collect machines.” The S20 is the largest capacity model in Trilo’s multi-purpose S-Line range which, when fitted with a flail shaft, offers a cutting width of 2.1m and powerful vacuum collection of the clippings to leave a clean finish after every pass.
Following the delivery by Hunt Forest Group, the S20 was put straight into operation between August and October. “The size of this unit has transformed the task of maintaining our meadow areas” Simon explains. “Not only does it cut and collect in its own right, but we can use it to support the smaller tractor mounted and ride on machines which can cut in tighter areas then tip their arisings on the ground to be sucked up by the hose on the S20 – all done using the intuitive control box from the comfort of the cab. This in itself has increased productivity and reduced vehicle journeys to dispose of waste.”
“Through December and January we then used the S20 to assist with leaf collection within the larger parks in our area, and will certainly be using it more for this function in future.” He concludes, “With Trilo you’re also assured of excellent build quality and excellent service from specification right through to installation. It’s the full package and has already proven itself to be a fantastic investment.”
